Yes, we're a little late on this one, but this series is clearly far from over. If Wednesday night's Game One showed anything, it showed that a 4-0 lead still may be too close for comfort.
The Anaheim Ducks dominated most of the first game, eventually jumping out to the aforementioned 4-0 lead on the Dallas Stars, but the Stars caught Anaheim napping late in the second and scored two goals to cut the lead in half. A third period Stars tally would pull Dallas dangerously close to closing a pretty substantial gap, but the Ducks were able to hang on by the skin of their teeth...or beaks or whatever Ducks have.
One of the top storylines in this series is a matchup between two of the top duos in hockey. Anaheim's Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf will take on Dallas's Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. This will be a very high-scoring series even though both teams (specifically Anaheim) have fairly solid defense and goaltending.
Another story to keep an eye on in this series will be the goaltending situations for both teams.
Anaheim threw a curveball and went with standout rookie Frederik Andersen in Game One, and he performed very well in the first period and a half before surrendering three goals to Dallas in the second half of the game. Sitting on the Ducks' bench was veteran Jonas Hiller, who has proven to be one of the NHL's more consistent starting goalies but has had some issues in the playoffs.
Dallas went with starter Kari Lehtonen. He has had plenty NHL experience but hardly any in the playoffs, appearing in four playoffs games with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2007. All were losses.
If Lehtonen struggles like he did for the first period and a half, Dallas could make a move for 2011 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Tim Thomas, who has not been the same since randomly taking a season off in 2013 but he still has a very good amount of playoff experience.
As good as Anaheim is, the duo of Seguin and Benn will steal a game or two for the Stars. However, Dallas does not have enough depth in the long run to keep up with the favored Ducks, regardless of how well each team's goaltender situation pans out.
Prediction: Ducks in six